How do I fix "Symbol not found: _is_prefix" when compiling Perl's DBD::mysql?

Question

First I wanted to build the DBD::mysql package. That kept failing because whatever make resulted in could not be loaded for the tests with a Symbol not found: _is_prefix. So I assumed that cpan might be a tad old. I know it's a random assumption, but cpan did tell me to install the latest Bundle::CPAN.

Who's successfully installed either DBD::mysql or Bundle::CPAN on Mac OS X 10.5? Could you recommend any thing I could be doing differently?

This is perl, v5.8.8 built for darwin-thread-multi-2level
(with 4 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail)

/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysql  Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.1.36,
for apple-darwin9.5.0 (i386) using readline 5.1

Here's a log of the CPAN output for DBD::mysql:

Writing Makefile for DBD::mysql
cc -c  -I/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/auto/DBI -I/usr/local/mysql/include -DDBD_MYSQL_INSERT_ID_IS_GOOD -g  -arch ppc -arch i386 -g -pipe -fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -no-cpp-precomp -fno-strict-aliasing -Wdeclaration-after-statement -I/usr/local/include -O3   -DVERSION=\"4.012\" -DXS_VERSION=\"4.012\"  "-I/System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE"   dbdimp.c
/usr/bin/perl -p -e "s/~DRIVER~/mysql/g" /Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/auto/DBI/Driver.xst > mysql.xsi

Running Mkbootstrap for DBD::mysql ()
chmod 644 mysql.bs
/usr/bin/perl /System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/ExtUtils/xsubpp  -typemap /System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/ExtUtils/typemap  mysql.xs > mysql.xsc && mv mysql.xsc mysql.c
cp lib/DBD/mysql.pm blib/lib/DBD/mysql.pm
cp lib/DBD/mysql/GetInfo.pm blib/lib/DBD/mysql/GetInfo.pm
cp lib/DBD/mysql/INSTALL.pod blib/lib/DBD/mysql/INSTALL.pod
cp lib/Bundle/DBD/mysql.pm blib/lib/Bundle/DBD/mysql.pm
cp mysql.bs blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bs
chmod 644 blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bs
Warning: duplicate function definition 'do' detected in mysql.xs, line 225
Warning: duplicate function definition 'rows' detected in mysql.xs, line 650
cc -c  -I/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/auto/DBI -I/usr/local/mysql/include -DDBD_MYSQL_INSERT_ID_IS_GOOD -g  -arch ppc -arch i386 -g -pipe -fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -no-cpp-precomp -fno-strict-aliasing -Wdeclaration-after-statement -I/usr/local/include -O3   -DVERSION=\"4.012\" -DXS_VERSION=\"4.012\"  "-I/System/Library/Perl/5.8.8/darwin-thread-multi-2level/CORE"   mysql.c
dbdimp.c: In function 'mysql_describe':
dbdimp.c:3309: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
dbdimp.c: In function 'mysql_describe':
dbdimp.c:3309: warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type
rm -f blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle
LD_RUN_PATH="/usr/local/mysql/lib" /usr/bin/perl myld cc -mmacosx-version-min=10.5.7  -arch ppc -arch i386 -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup -L/usr/local/lib dbdimp.o mysql.o  -o blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle    \
       -L/usr/local/mysql/lib -lmysqlclient -lz -lm     \

chmod 755 blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle
Manifying blib/man3/DBD::mysql.3pm
Manifying blib/man3/DBD::mysql::INSTALL.3pm
Manifying blib/man3/Bundle::DBD::mysql.3pm
  CAPTTOFU/DBD-mysql-4.012.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make -j3 -j3 -- OK

Running make test
PERL_DL_NONLAZY=1 /usr/bin/perl "-MExtUtils::Command::MM" "-e" "test_harness(0, 'blib/lib', 'blib/arch')" t/*.t
t/00base.t .................. 1/6 Bailout called.  Further testing stopped:  Unable to load DBD::mysql

#   Failed test 'use DBD::mysql;'
#   at t/00base.t line 21.
#     Tried to use 'DBD::mysql'.
#     Error:  Can't load '/Users/dlamblin/.cpan/build/DBD-mysql-4.012-4n3pv8/blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle' for module DBD::mysql: dlopen(/Users/dlamblin/.cpan/build/DBD-mysql-4.012-4n3pv8/blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle, 2): Symbol not found: _is_prefix
#   Referenced from: /Users/dlamblin/.cpan/build/DBD-mysql-4.012-4n3pv8/blib/arch/auto/DBD/mysql/mysql.bundle
#   Expected in: dynamic lookup
#  at (eval 7) line 2
# Compilation failed in require at (eval 7) line 2.
# BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at (eval 7) line 2.
FAILED--Further testing stopped: Unable to load DBD::mysql
make: *** [test_dynamic] Error 255
  CAPTTOFU/DBD-mysql-4.012.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make test -- NOT OK
//hint// to see the cpan-testers results for installing this module, try:
  reports CAPTTOFU/DBD-mysql-4.012.tar.gz
Running make install
  make test had returned bad status, won't install without force
Failed during this command:
 CAPTTOFU/DBD-mysql-4.012.tar.gz              : make_test NO

Answer 1

Okay, if you get these errors I now know the following:

1. MySQL 5.1 for Mac OS X x86_64 is not compatible with DBD::mysql (yet). Install the 32-bit x86 version, and try again. You'll succeed. I wish the perl Makefile.pl would just tell you that in a banner.
2. Bundle::CPAN had issues because I wasn't installing as root. Why that makes it report circular references instead of installation permission issues, I'll never understand.

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